A Leafy Autumn
by Leafpool's Essence
Summary: A small cat romance story, filled with horror, betrayal, and friendship. I hope you all like it!
1. Summary and Allegiances

**A Leafy Autumn:**

**Summary: Autumnbreeze is a fierce, tough, and sweet she-cat with a very odd past. With her mother, Shadenight, passing away because of birth, Autumnbreeze is forced to live on without her mother.**

**Autumnbreeze, though, blames her mother's death on her younger sister Leafpaw. She thinks if Leafpaw wasn't born, Shadenight would have lived and she would have had kits by now. Autumnbreeze blames every misery on Leafpaw until finally Leafpaw is banished from the clan because of a sickness she couldn't handle. Leafpaw's mentor, Lightsnow, hearing about her apprentice's banishment runs away as well. **

**With both medicine cats gone, ThunderClan is suffering from a sickness. Finally, Autumnbreeze is taken into twists and turns learning more about her past. And a mystery cat is the final solution to her past.**

_**A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR**_

**Hello, everyone! I hope you enjoy my first fanfiction ever. This one is going to be a long one xD.**

**Anyways, it would be awesome if you guys can review the first chapter. **

**(Yesh, I know, the summary gave away some secrets to the next few chapters, but no worries! I have many surprises in store for you guys!)**

**Enjoy A Leafy Autumn!**

_ThunderClan Allegiances_

**Leader:** Cometstar

_A silver tabby tom with ice-blue eyes_

**Deputy:**Tanglepelt

_A pretty she-cat with a messy brown pelt_

**Medicine Cat:**Lightsnow

_A fully white pelted she-cat with lime-green eyes_

**Medicine Cat's Apprentice:** Leafpaw

_A ice-blue eyed apprentice with a beautiful mixed colored pelt_

**Warriors**

Coldheart

_A turtle-feathered tom-cat with amber eyes_

Apprentice: Winterpaw

Icetail

_A tiny she-cat with a sweet shade of black_

Apprentice: Shrewdpaw

Brightspirit

_A calico-covered cat with pretty blue eyes_

Dewleaf

_A snow-white pelted cat with clear, blue eyes_

Brooktail

_A cotton-candy colored cat with mint-green eyes_

Apprentice: Sandpaw

Hawkfrost

_A tabby-colored tom-cat with ice-blue eyes_

Autumnbreeze

_A ginger pelted cat with mysterious blue eyes_

Apprentice: Cherrypaw

Firesnow

_A fierce tom-cat with black fur_

Airstream

_A sweet-songed, brown patched she-cat with pretty dark-green eyes_

Rainbreeze

_A beautiful silver pelted tom-cat with ice-blue eyes_

Apprentice: Tailpaw

Milkweed

_A grayish colored she-cat with a sweet voice_

Apprentice: Puddlepaw

Paintsoul

_A rainbow colored she-cat with actual rainbow colored eyes_

Skywhisper

_A slightly tempered tom-cat with fierce ice-blue eyes_

Apprentice: Pebblepaw

Riversong

_A rogue she-cat who just joined ThunderClan_

Reedsong

_A rogue tom-cat who just joined ThunderClan_

Thorntail

_A slightly ill tempered tom-cat with a mysterious past_

Apprentice: Graypaw

Silentstep

_A jet black she-cat with green eyes_

Apprentice: Poppypaw

Swanleaf

_A fully white coated she-cat with amber eyes_

**Apprentices**

Grawpaw

_A gray-pelted tom-cat with silver eyes_

Cherrypaw

_A red-streaked pelted cat with stunning orange eyes_

_Sandpaw_

_A sweet sand-colored she-cat with flower-shaped eyes_

Poppypaw

_An amber-eyed she-cat with a brown-pelt_

Pebblepaw

_A calico-colored tom-cat with beautiful blue eyes_

Winterpaw

_A snow-white tom-cat with greenish bluish eyes_

Puddlepaw

_A white-streaked apprentice with green eyes_

Tailpaw

_A silver-pelted she-cat with amber eyes_

Shrewdpaw

_A black-striped tom-cat with radiant blue eyes_

**Queens**

Flowerheart

_A pretty she-cat with golden striped fur_

First Litter: Cherrypaw, Winterpaw and Pebblepaw

Second Litter: Icekit and Firekit

Moonpelt

_A snow-white she-cat with white colored eyes_

First Litter: Puddlepaw and Shrewdpaw

Second Litter: Hazelkit, Lionkit, and Jaykit

Dapplefur

_A sweet, loving queen with tangerine eyes_

First Litter: Poppypaw and Mintpaw

Second Litter: Graypaw and Tailpaw

Third Litter: Mintkit

Crystalpelt

_A silver-pelted queen with twinkling blue eyes_

First Litter: Silverkit, Faithkit, Aquakit, and Cinnamonkit

**Elders**

Talopoppy

_The previous medicine cat (the medicine cat that mentored Spottedleaf)_

**Kits**

Icekit

_A snow-covered kit with dark blue eyes_

Firekit

_A flame-pelted kit with matching amber eyes_

Mintkit

_A sweet, playful kit with beautiful mint-green eyes_

Hazelkit

_A fierce little kit with a hazel pelt_

Lionkit

_An amber-eyed tom-kit with a golden pelt_

Jaykit

_An ice-blue eyed tom-kit with a grayish pelt_


	2. Chapter 1

**YAY! The VERY FIRST Chappy! Wh00t.**

**I hope you guys review, please? Or atleast tell me how the story is. I was just re-reading the Allegiances, when I realized I made some very odd mistakes, so I'll clear them up for you.**

**Paintsoul – He doesn't a rainbow pelt, I meant he has many different colors on his pelt. And he really does have rainbow colored eyes. And yes, there is such a thing as rainbow colored eyes, but only one person in the whole wide world has these eyes… but I don't know who. I just read that on some odd fact sheet I got in school! xD**

**Moonpelt – How odd…. I said she had white colored eyes. Now wouldn't that be cool? I mean how awesome would it be to have no colors in your eyes, it would be a tad bit scary. **

**Okay. That's it for the mistakes. If you guys spot some other kinds of mistakes I made, please tell me!**

**Also, italicized words mean a flash back or the character is thinking that, not saying it.**

**And…. PLEASE REVIEW!**

"_Autumnkit, what's wrong?" A hoarse but sweet voice cooed. "Don't worry Autumnkit! I'll be alright, you'll see. I have to live; anyways I have your brothers and sisters in my stomach." _

_Autumnkit watched her mother, Shadenight, lie down. She winced as her head hit the floor and blood started to come out of her stomach. Spottedleaf, the medicine cat quickly rushed to her side. "She's kitting." Spottedleaf said with a bit of a surprise in her voice. "It's too early though. Something must be wrong."_

_The medicine cat sighed and called out for her apprentice. "Lightpaw! Shadenight is kitting, please come and help her."_

_Autumnkit's head swirled. Wrong? What was wrong with her mother? Was she going to die? No! She couldn't! She just had to be there when Autumnkit would turn into an apprentice. She just had to be. _

_Tears dropped from the little kit's eyes and plopped on the ground below. Ashamed of crying in front of her mother Autumnkit buried her eyes beneath her paws. She was going to be an apprentice today! She had to remain strong!_

_Without mother, what would her life be? Father had turned into a traitor and now... Autumnkit couldn't take it anymore, she let out a yelp and sobbed._

_Realizing the kit was there, Spottedleaf gasped and turned toward. "Oh!" Spottedleaf cried, "Autumnkit, you mustn't be here!" And then with a hushed voice she added, "Autumnkit, your mother will be fine. It's just that kitting is a very hard task, but if Starclan wills it, Shadenight will be fine." Spottedleaf purred and turned around to go help her mother._

"_Autumnkit. Come on! Your mother will be fine." A pregnant she-cat came into the den. "Come, you can go play with all the other kits, okay?"_

_Autumnkit glanced back at her mother, and just before Shadenight kitted, she looked up toward Autumnkit and smiled. _

Autumnbreeze woke up. NO! She had that dream AGAIN! She could remember that day as clear as the blue sky. Her heart thumped and she thought it might stop beating, but to her relief it kept thumping. Rolling in her moss, Autumnbreeze couldn't get the scene out of her head. Today was the anniversary of her mother's death and all Autumnbreeze could do was roll around in her moss bed? Shifting herself onto her paws, Autumnbreeze walked out of the warrior den.

"Hey Autumnbreeze!" A small, squeaky voice filled the sky. "Can we go hunting today? Huh?"

Autumnbreeze looked at her apprentice with amusement. "Sorry, Cherrypaw. I know how much you want to be a warrior, but I can't train you today."

"Aww…" The small apprentice whined.

"I am really sorry. I have somewhere to be. Maybe tomorrow?" Autumnbreeze asked hopefully.

The apprentice sighed and then suddenly her eyes lit up. "It's okay! I just remembered that Thorntail invited me to join him and Graypaw train. Is that okay with you?"

Autumnbreeze nodded. "It's fine." But it wasn't. Thorntail was an ambitious cat, who liked to joke around and act all childish sometimes. He was a bit stuck up and had practically mated with almost all the other she-cats. They both had grown up together, but she hated Thorntail when he was a kit and she still hated him, "Let me go talk to Thorntail." Autumnbreeze said, and with that flashed out of her apprentice's sight.

….

"Thorntail!" A yowl rang through the warrior den. Thorntail knew who it was and he wanted to hide. Autumnbreeze scared him like anything. What was worse then a she-cat storming through the dens trying to find a tom? It was trouble, and Thorntail knew it more then he knew he had a tail.

"Thorntail? Where are you? Quit hiding!" Thorntail flinched. Great. He was caught. Quietly he whisked out of the warrior den and sat down on the ground waiting for Autumnbreeze to find him.

He watched Autumnbreeze stumble around until she finally spotted him and started to pad toward him. "There you are! I was looking for you." Could she be any more obvious? "Thanks for stating the obvious." He said and rolled his eyes.

Autumnbreeze frowned. She turned to him. "My apprentice, Cherrypaw, just told me you promised her with some training, yes?"

"Well yah… and you point is?"

Autumnbreeze rolled her eyes. "My point is that I don't want you to even think about flirting with my apprentice. You got that?"

Ohh… so that's what this was about. Thorntail purred. Autumnbreeze was funny. "Oh don't worry Autumnbreeze. I won't flirt, but I dare do say so she has the LOVLIEST eyes I have ever seen."

Autumnbreeze gave him a great, big glare. "I am serious Thorntail; don't even think about making Cherrypaw fall in love with you. You know she already admires you! I don't want her to fall in love with you anymore, because we both know how this is going to end; in a broken heart of a pretty she-cat."

Thorntail sighed. Autumnbreeze always took the fun out of things. "Fine. I won't flirt… well…" But before Thorntail could even utter another word Autumnbreeze slashed him across the face and hissed.

Great Starclan! Who knew she-cats could fight?

….

"Oh, Thorntail! Is there something wrong?"

Thorntail padded into the medicine cat's den with a twisted face. The wound was paining more then Thorntail thought it would. "Uh… well, I got this scratch right across my face, and I thought..."

"You thought you might need to get it checked? Well, let's see. What happened?" Lightsnow padded toward Thorntail and peeked at the scratch. "Did you get in a fight with another cat?"

"Uh.. er… uh… no! Of course not! I was just so mouse-brained that I... I… uh…"

"Yes I am waiting." Lightsnow purred patiently.

I.. er.. was walking with my eyes closed when I accidentally ran into a rock and scratched my cheek. I know, how mouse-brained of me."

"Are you telling the truth? Because it sure does look like some cat slashed you across the face. Probably because you have those snide remarks of yours."

"Yep!" Lying was getting a bit easier.

"So how did you end up walking with your eyes closed, anyways?"

"Well, you see…" Now lying was getting harder and Thorntail thought for a second that he was caught. "Graypaw bet me a piece of vole for two moons if I walked with my eyes closed without bumping into something. But I kinda lost that bet." Thorntail chuckled.

"Oh…" Lightsnow seemed to accept the excuse and nodded. "Well I am just going to apply some cobwebs to your wound. It doesn't look that bad."

Lightsnow padded over to a pile of herbs, which to Thorntail looked like fox-dung, and shifted through it until she found what she needed. As she came towards Thorntail, she called out for her apprentice. "Leafpaw!" A heartbeat later a small, skinny she-cat padded through the connecting doorway to the nursery and the medicine cat's den. "Yes?"

To Thorntail's surprise her voice was so high pitched that when she said the 'e' in 'Yes' it squeaked.

The blue-eyed apprentice looked at her mentor. "Alright Leafpaw, Thorntail has a big scratch on his face. What do you think we should do first?"

Leafpaw just stared at the ground for a little while, as if she was thinking and then lifted her head. "Well, first you gotta put some cobwebs on his scratch to make it stop bleeding. And if the wound is infected you can either give him Marigold, Garlic, Cat Mint, or Chervil roots. But if it is not infected you can give him some Poppy seeds, but that might make him sleepy, or you can just give him some Vera roots to ease the pain." Leafpaw nodded to signal she was done.

_Wo_w. Thorntail thought. Who knew the quiet apprentice could be so smart? Thorntail rolled his eyes. "Smarty cat," he hissed under his breath. Although Lightsnow didn't seem to notice because she was too congratulating Leafpaw.

"Good job, Leafpaw! Now what do you think is the best way to help Thorntail?"

Leafpaw again stared at the ground and then lifted her head when she got the answer, "Well I think if we give him some Vera roots he'll be fine."

"Why?" Asked Lightsnow curiously.

Thorntail rolled his eyes again. This was taking too long. When the heck will they stop talking and just heal him? SOME cats had to go on the morning patrol today and Tanglepelt wasn't going to be happy when SOME cat came late. "Look," Thorntail whispered to Lightsnow, "Can we hurry this up a bit? I got some place to go."

Lightsnow gave him a sarcastic look and sighed. "Alright, Thorntail. Leafpaw could you please get the Vera roots and chew them up? After that you have to drink the juice and spit the pulp out so Thorntail can eat it."

Leafpaw nodded and turned around to get the Vera roots.

For some reason, Leafpaw looked very familiar to a she-cat Thorntail knew, but he just couldn't put his claws on whom. And then suddenly it hit him like a monster hitting a cat. Autumnbreeze! Of course! Leafpaw looked so much like Autumnbreeze. Thorntail had known she had some kind of little sister, but he would have never guessed Leafpaw to be her. They looked so similar, but their attitude and personality was so different! Although, Thorntail had never really seen Autumnbreeze with Leafpaw much. Actually he hadn't seen them together at all before.

Then Leafpaw returned with the Vera pulp and Thorntail reached down to eat it.

Ugh, it tasted so bad! _Curse Autumnbreeze for my suffering._ Thorntail quickly gulped it down and nodded his thanks to the two cats as he headed out.

Thorntail shrugged. Whatever the reason Autumnbreeze never mentioned her sister, must be family business.

….

"Thorntail! How could you?" The little voice of a gray cat rang trough the forest.

"What? I thought you would be happy!"

"Thorntail, Cherrypaw doesn't like ME, she likes YOU!"

"But you do like Cherrypaw, don't you Graypaw?"

"Well… yah, I do, but she'll never like someone like me."

"Fox-dung! I bet she will like you very much. And if you don't want her, I'll take her. She has the prettiest eyes of all!"

"Thorntail!"

"I am kidding. But really, she is a very beautiful cat. Instead of me, you two would look very good together."

"You really think so?"

"Would you mentor EVER lie to you?"

Graypaw sighed. "I don't know what to do first. I mean if she trains with us, all I would do is stare at her. And I can't fight the cat I love! I might hurt her!"

Thorntail rolled his eyes. Man! Apprentices with their theories. "Look, she is training to be a warrior, right? So she'll HAVE to fight some day. You can't help it if you hurt her accidentally. Plus, the medicine cats can cure anything!"

"I guess your right…" Graypaw whispered. He looked pretty doubtful. "What should I say to her?"

"Don't say much. If you do say something, keep it casual. Oh! And comment on how she is doing every so often, in a GOOD way."

Graypaw nodded.

"Here she comes, Graypaw! Stand up straight. Don't arch your back!"

Thorntail watched his apprentice struggle for a second and turned his gaze onto to Cherrypaw. "Hello, Cherrypaw. Let's start our training right away."

Cherrypaw nodded.

"Hi, Cherrypaw!" Graypaw said happily, but Cherrypaw ignored him. She was focused on Thorntail.

Thorntail walked brisk steps and then he halted. Cherrypaw, not knowing that bumped up against him accidentally. "Whoops! Sorry Thorntail!" Her face was flushed and she looked so embarrassed. Autumnbreeze was right about Cherrypaw having a crush on him. But he couldn't blame her, he was pretty charming.

"Alright, first can you both show me what to do if you spot a mouse?"

….


	3. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! I am SUPER sorry that I haven't updated for like a year. No worries though, this story is back on track and more shall come, I promise. **

**Although since my lack of updating, the story has changed a little then I had actually planned it out to be. But thats fine, I think it is still a lot better then my planned one.  
****Well, I'll stop chatting and let you guys begin reading! Thank you for all the people who are reading my story. I love you all!**

**Don't forget to review!! (PLEASE!)**

...

Autumnbreeze padded.

She felt herself quiver with anticipation as she came closer to her destination. She hadn't asked the permission of Cometstar to break away from warrior duties. But anyways, no one would know she had disappeared.

She made her way towards the hilltop.

It was here where her mother was buried. Memories flooded back into her mind as she thought about Shadenight.

Autumnbreeze sighed. She had come here almost every leaf-bare since the day Shadenight had died.

Tonight she would sit vigil with her mother to relive the moment. She walked towards her mother's grave.

"Shadenight… mother…" Autumnbreeze's voice quivered. She felt small droplets of water forming in her eyes.

"Why did you have to die? Why?"

"Why… why did you need another kit? Why? Didn't you already have me? Wasn't I enough?"

Her voice gave in and the tears came out. Autumnbreeze rested her head against her mother's grave. She just wanted to spend some time with her mother.

...

Graypaw, tail drooped and all, stalked away.

"I am sorry Graypaw! I didn't know she would have been obsessing over me the whole time!" Thorntail yelled after him.

Growling, sulked away from Thorntail. The training session had been a disaster. Instead of spending time and making memories with Cherrypaw, Cherrypaw was practically in love with Thorntail. Obsessing over his fur, cuddling around him, and touching noses. It was disgusting.

Graypaw wanted to cry. He thought Cherrypaw would have paid some attention to him, but instead the apprentice was all lovey dovey with Thorntail.

For once in his life he had finally found someone he liked, but instead of being in love with him, Cherrypaw had used him to get to Thorntail. The pain struck him like the brambles in the mull berry bushes.

Suddenly, Graypaw felt a paw touch his pelt and for a split second he thought it might have been Cherrypaw. "Oh… it's you." Graypaw growled at Thorntail.

"Graypaw, I really am sorry. It's not my fault that I am handsomely attractive to all the other females." Thorntail grinned.

Anger bubbled in Graypaw. He couldn't take it any more. "It's all a game to you! You have it so easy! Walk right by a she-cat and she already has fallen in love with you. But I am not you… I can't do that. I love Cherrypaw and you… you just think it is funny to watch all these she-cats stumble for you. For once in my life I fell in love with someone and you just whisked that love away." Graypaw sobbed.

Thorntail's grin was immediately wiped off his face. Fear struck him. He hadn't known Graypaw liked Cherrypaw so much. If he had, then he wouldn't have messed around with them. He had thought it was all but kit-love. But now… from the seriousness in Graypaw's voice, he knew it was much more.

"Graypaw… I am sorry… I truly am sor..."

"Shut up! Keep your sorry, it doesn't mean anything to me. I HATE you." Graypaw interrupted.

Thorntail sighed as he watched Graypaw storm away. _What kind of a mess had he gotten himself into now?_

…

"Thorntail," A rough voice sounded from outside the warrior's den.

Thorntail gazed up as the blurry image of the voice's owner started to clear.

"Yes?"

"Time for dawn patrol." The rough voice belonged to a senior warrior named Skywhisper.

Thorntail groaned. He hated doing dawn patrol. It's not like the other clans have anything better to do then sleep at dawn. I mean come on! Who would attack at dawn?

Thorntail slumped over. "You know… I am not feeling that great right now. I really feel sick… could you get another cat to fill in for me, please?" Thorntail faked.

"Oh… is that so?" And with that Skywhisper walked away.

Finally! Some peace and quiet. Thorntail purred as he rested his head back on his moss covered bed. Sleep stalked him silently, like a dog.

…

"Thorntail!" Paws pushed into his side rolling him over.

What now? Hadn't this already happen to him? _Ugh, I swear its déjà vu. _Thorntail whispered to himself. He blinked back the sleep, only to see Lightsnow and Skywhisper staring down at him.

"Aren't you supposed to be at dawn patrol?" Thorntail gurgled at Skywhisper.

"Yes, but first I wanted to make sure you were okay. So I brought Lightsnow to checkup on you."

Thonrtail's eyes flew wide open. _Uh oh… I am in trouble now._ He thought. _Stay clam, Thorntail. Just get through this and then you can sleep._

"Right…" Thorntail meowed.

"Alright, Thorntail what's wrong?" Lightsnow questioned with curiosity in her eyes.

"Um… uh… I fell kind of down, like I have fever. You know, upset stomach and all. Nothing much. Although I am sure you'll recommend me to get some good rest, just incase. You know?" Thorntail glanced back from Lightsnow to Skywhisper.

"I agree." Lightsnow meowed.

"You do? I mean… if you think that's best." Thorntail said surprised.

"Yes, I do." Lightsnow replied, to Thorntail's delight. "Although, first since you said you have an upset stomach, I am going to need you to take some herbs."

"Herbs… oh… alright, as long as they cure me." Thorntail mused.

"Right, I'll be right back." Lightsnow disappeared back into the medicine cat's den and reappeared again with a weird sort of brew.

"Just eat these herbs. They are VERY bitter taste, but they will help you."

_Bitter? Ha, I've handled more dangerous things then bitter. _"Fine," Thorntail replied, "if that's all you want me to do." Thorntail bent down to eat the herbs.

"Wait! Thorntail, let me just tell you that those herbs clean out your stomach, I mean REALLY clean out your stomach. So everything would be coming out of the um… other end, if you know what I mean." Lightsnow warned.

Thorntail stopped in midair. "How long would it take to be cleaned?" He asked, unsure of what to do.

"Well, it'll take a day or two, so you'll be running out of the warriors den for quite a while, and the smell ugh… it would be so rancid!" Lightsnow explained.

"STOP, stop. Okay, I am not really sick… I just faked it to get out of dawn patrol." Thorntail confessed, disgusted.

"No… really?" Lightsnow and Skywhisper laughed amused. "We would have never guessed."

Thorntail stared at the two cats in disbelief. "Thorntail, every senior warrior has seen that trick about a million times. We should know that trick well, since we did invent it." Skywhisper laughed. "Now come on and get ready for dawn patrol, we don't want Cometstar to be angry."

"No wonder you're so old." Thorntail hissed under his breathe, as he made his way out of the warriors den.

"What's that?" Skywhisper asked. "Oh, Thorntail. You haven't seen Autumnbreeze around have you?"

"What? No…. I only saw her at sunrise yesterday." Thonrtail replied, remembering his encounter with her.

"She was supposed to come for dawn patrol, but I guess we could find a replacement."

Now that Thorntail thought about it, he didn't think he had even spotted Autumnbreeze after their little dispute. _Where could she be?_

_..._


	4. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone! Yet another chapter released! I am pretty much on a roll this month :D**

**Right. This time, you see a side of Autumnbreeze's that you have never seen before... her dark side(although it might not be as dark as you think it is). This part of the story reminds me of Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace. LOVE that song. It kind of resembles Autumnbreeze. I sort of built her character based upon the song. Most of the characters you see in this story, are based upon songs. See if you can figure them out. **

**I know I haven't built up on some of the characters, like Lightsnow, Cometstar, Skywhisper, Dewleaf or even Leafpaw, but I promise you that once we get into the whole storyline, you'll see the characters develop and then maybe you can recognize which song they were based upon.**

**So, now I'll let you read Chapter 3 of A Leafy Autumn. This one is a long one! Took me 2 hours to write. Enjoy!**

**PLEASE review! That would be greatly appreciated. I WANT to know what you think about my story.**

…

The trickle of a stream was all you could hear. Lightening flashed as Thorntail padded through the forest. Skywhisper, Dewleaf, Tanglepelt and Brooktail all had gone ahead of him as the rain started pouring down.

"Right, everything seems well in its place. I guess we're done here." Dewleaf pondered.

Thorntail brushed past her, grinning uncontrollably. "So… what are you thinking about doing this sun-rise?" He mewed.

"Gross," Dewleaf said screwing her nose, "seriously Thorntail, think before you meow."

Thorntail frowned. Dewleaf was probably one of the prettiest she-cats in Thunderclan. He didn't understand why she didn't like him. Shrugging, Thorntail padded towards the ShadowClan border.

"Don't go out too far, Thorntail. Or you might cross into ShadowClan territory." Skywhisper warned with a yowl.

"I think I know where the border is, thank you very much." Thorntail spat back. He twitched his whiskers; _why does Skywhisper treat him like a little kit?_

He sniffed the air, spotting a mouse. Quickly, Thorntail crouched and was just about to jump when the soft feeling of raindrops came, which made him lose his concentration. Thorntail turned around and the mouse was gone in a swift. He got up to his paws to see Tanglepelt come towards him.

"Thorntail, it'll start thundering and raining soon, we'd better wrap this up fast." She flicked her tail and turned around.

Thorntail sighed. This is why he hated doing dawn patrol. Thorntail sniffed the air if he could spot some prey, but he knew the answer too well. There wouldn't be any prey outside in this sort of weather, especially when if was about to rain. Suddenly, Thorntail could have sworn he smelled another Thunderclan cat. The scent was faint, but Thorntail smelled it all too well.

Thorntail decided to follow the scent trail. Who ever the cat was wasn't very good at hiding the scent. He left the yowls of the dawn patrol getting ready to head home. He knew they would all freak when they couldn't find him, but it didn't matter.

Thorntail quickly shrugged away the thought and padded through the forest. The scent trail seemed to curve and he towards Snake Rocks.

As Thorntail neared Snake Rocks, he could make out the outline of a she-cat's body. It wasn't just any she-cat, it was Autumnbreeze. "Autumnbreeze!" He yowled. Fear struck through him. _What if she was dead? She could have been struck by an adder!_

Thorntail rushed toward her side. "Autumnbreeze!" He whispered. "Autumnbreeze, please wake up…" Rain was pouring down then, and the wind howled. Thorntail flattened his ears and pressed down on Autumnbreeze's body. _Good._ He thought. _Her body is warm._

Now, Thorntail wasn't a medicine cat, but even a kit would know that if an unconscious cat's body was warm, then it was still alive.

Autumnbreeze's eyes flickered open. "Thorntail?" She whispered. Autumnbreeze shook her fur from the water droplets, spraying some on Thorntail. "Thanks," He mewed curtly, "like I wasn't wet before."

To his surprise, Autumnbreeze was angry. Her eyes glowered, and her tail was stuck up high. "Why did you wake me up?" She yowled.

"I… I though you were dead."

"Of course I wasn't dead! Didn't you check if I was breathing?"

Thorntail ignored the question. "You looked dead!"

"Mousebrain! Just because I looked dead doesn't mean I am! You'd think Lightsnow would kill a kit only because if looked dead? What if it was sleeping?"

"If you didn't want to be rescued, then you should have just told me!" Thorntail hissed.

"I didn't NEED to be rescued."

"Then why were you lying there, like you were dead?"

Autumnbreeze opened her mouth to reply, but stopped. "No… no reason." She whispered.

"There must be a reason, because then you wouldn't be yelling at me." Thorntail said, his eyes were fierce now.

"Never mind Thorntail, let's just go home."

"Not until I get an explanation."

"Well, then you'd be waiting for eternity, because I am not going to tell you." Autumnbreeze speeded up her pace and padded quickly through the forest.

"Fine." Thorntail replied.

He could see astonishment on Autumnbreeze's face, but he didn't know why. They briskly padded home, knowing that when they would arrive they both would be in some deep trouble.

…

"What were you two THINKING?"

Autumnbreeze flinched at the sound of Cometstar's voice. She looked away, avoiding his icy stare.

"Well?" Cometstar pushed on. Knowing that neither of them would answer, Cometstar quickly decided to question them one at a time.

"Autumnbreeze," _Uh oh… here he goes! _She thought, knowing she couldn't dodge his questions. "Do you know that you have been missing since yesterday morning?"

_Was that a rhetorical question?_ "Yes." Autumnbreeze stammered. She averted his gaze completely.

"We don't make apprentices warriors just so they can slack off. What were you thinking? No… I know what you were thinking. You were thinking about yourself not about the clan. You know there is a shortage of prey. It's leaf-bare for crying out loud. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Both of you have brought dishonor to Thunderclan." Cometstar's voice made Autumnbreeze quiver. She had never seen him this angry.

She didn't even dare look at Thorntail. She already knew what Thorntail would be thinking right now, and that was that all of this was a joke. But she was different. She actually cared about the clan. It was just that she would have never thought that her visit to her mother's grave would have ended this way.

"Thorntail, it is not like I am surprised that you would do such a sort of thing. When you went missing, we sent out a patrol to find you." Cometstar's gaze suddenly softened. "I know you meant good when you followed Autumnbreeze's scent trail, but next time please notify someone about what you are doing."

_Great. _Autumnbreeze thought._ Thorntail got off easy. _But she knew; it wasn't Thorntail's fault at all. It was hers and Cometstar knew. This was all her fault.

"Autumnbreeze, I am very disappointed in you. Usually you would never get into kinds of trouble. But now…" Cometstar's voice trailed off, "now… you don't even have time to train your apprentice." Autumnbreeze gasped and looked up. _How did Cometstar find this out?_ "Sneaking off, not having time to train your apprentice… is something wrong?" Cometstar's voice was filled with concern.

"No. Nothing is wrong." Autumnbreeze replied.

"Very well, now tell me why you left camp, then?" Cometstar's voice was normal now, with a hint of anger.

Autumnbreeze froze. If she answered his question, would he ban her from going to visit her mother? Fear struck her. "I… I can't…"

"She left camp because she was hunting. Autumnbreeze was hunting for a really long time. She wanted to try to get a lot of prey, so the clan wouldn't go hungry. But she got tired and I guess she just fell asleep." Thorntail interrupted.

"Is this true?" Cometstar meowed questionably.

Autumnbreeze gulped. She looked at Thorntail, who nodded ever so slightly so that she would know what to do. "Yes, it's true. I am really sorry I fell asleep. It is just that I was outside the entire day, I was getting tired and sleepy. Plus I didn't catch much prey." This was the first time she had ever lied to Cometstar, and this would be her last.

The expression on Cometstar's face didn't change. "Tomorrow, go ahead and retrieve the prey you caught. We'll discuss both of your punishments later. You may go now." Cometstar ordered.

As Thorntail disappeared out of the den, Cometstar gazed into Autumnbreeze's eyes. "And next time, Autumnbreeze, please don't let Thorntail lie for you." He meowed.

Autumnbreeze nodded, and followed Thorntail out the den.

...


End file.
